The Magic Tree House
by Iwillgodownwiththisship27
Summary: "Okay just say if you had to kiss a girl, who would it be?" Archie insists. "You have to had at least thought about it with someone." "I'm sorry if I feel like my time is better spent doing things other than obsess over girls." Jughead retorted, avoiding the question. Mostly Bughead fic with slight Barchie.


**A/N: I'm dying waiting for these new Riverdale episodes. Some Bughead fluff. Slight Barchie. I love the idea of the three of them growing up together and decided to explore the idea in this outlet. Enjoy!**

"Okay just say if you _had_ to kiss a girl, who would it be?" Archie insists. "You have to had at least thought about it with _someone_."

Jughead takes a minute to look up from his comic book at Archie. He didn't like being grilled about the topic. He knew Archie's interest in girls had spiked when they had started middle school two years ago. Archie had shamelessly followed Cheryl Blossom around like a puppy dog for the better part of their 6th grade year. She was an 8th grader and blossom, she did. His infatuation for her was predictably unrequited. She made that clear at the beginning of the summer before the gangs 7th grade year. She threatened to send her twin brother Jason to beat him up if she caught him ogling her at the Riverdale pool one more time or worse, creeping outside her windows at Thornhill. Jughead never understood the fixation. Cheryl creeped him out. She was snotty, and had little care for anyone other than herself. With the exception of her brother Jason, of course. They were _always_ together and we're extremely close, even for twins; almost too close. He shuddered at the thought of the eerie pair.

"I'm sorry if I feel like my time is better spent doing things other than obsess over girls." Jughead retorted, avoiding the question.

"I'm not obsessing. I just- how can you _not_ notice them? There are so many different kinds of girls and you don't think you want to kiss at least _one_? How do you know if you never even tried it? There's a lot more to life than just video games and comics Jug." He chuckles when Jughead rolls his eyes.

"Don't forget burgers. There are also burgers." The prepubescent boy with the crown beanie quipped. "Besides, it's not like _you've_ kissed anyone yet." When Archie didn't respond, Jughead looked up at him again. The redhead was sitting on his bed, looking out the window at something completely lost in what could only be described as a trance. The knowledge of the fact that the house next to Archie's belonged to Betty's family piqued Jughead's interest as to what his best friend could be looking at. He scooted across the floor to be able to see.

Jughead gasped. The sight was shocking, to say the least. Betty was their third musketeer, the Hermione Granger to their Harry and Ron, their Princess Peach to their Mario Brothers, Princess Leia to their Luke Skywalker and Han Solo, the Nancy Drew to their Hardy boys, the Alice to their Tweedledee and Tweedledum, the Maddie Fitzpatrick to their Zack and Cody. Since the beginning of time they had all three been close. Betty and Archie were next door neighbors and naturally, Jughead was always over at Archie's. The three were inseparable at school often getting in trouble for talking in class or other shenanigans they would pull. Betty was small, shy, and quiet. Other girls tended to bully her so Archie and Jughead had an unspoken agreement to always be there to protect her.

The current state of his female best friend awed him. It stirred something in his stomach that he could best only describe as a fluttery sensation. This was a feeling he had never felt before. Female she was. It's not like Jughead hadn't noticed her before. He'd always liked her shiny light green eyes. You'd think they were blue if you hadn't seen them up close. They always gave you an idea of what her emotions were as she often times had issues expressing them. You'd only be able to tell what she's thinking if you were _extra_ observant, which luckily, Jughead was. He always felt a bit of a soft spot for her because of this. When they were kids, her trademark bouncy blonde ponytail was mesmerizing and he'd always felt an uncontrollable urge to tug on it. This recurrently led to him yanking on it from his desk behind hers when they were in class; or him often chasing her around the playground at recess trying to get a fistful of her golden locks. Since he saw her almost everyday, he hadn't really noticed when her body started to develop.

Now, he was unable to ignore the clear evidence of her evolution. He tried swallowing a lump in his throat. It was hard to hide anything in her blue bikini she was trying on. The tags were still on it and it was obviously new. They'd gone to the beach or pool with Betty hundreds of times even a few this summer and they'd never seen it before. She usually wore a classic one piece. "You haven't actually kissed anyone yet, right Arch?" Jughead asked, suddenly queasy with suspicion and a hint of jealousy.

"No, but I bet she would if I asked." He said smugly and his expression changed as he got an idea. "Would _you_ kiss Betty given the opportunity Jug?" Jughead's blush from seeing more of Betty than he was used to darkened and spread to his ears.

"Um…" He began but the boys quickly ducked when she looked up from her mirror. Unfortunately they had been caught red handed and she started opening her window and Archie sheepishly opened his.

"Hey guys, do you think my new swimsuit is seaworthy?" She teased.

"Oh it's definitely _see_ -worthy alright." Archie quickly retorted, not missing a beat. Her laugh floated from her mouth across the way and Jughead reveled in it but also was a bit covetous he wasn't the one who had caused it. "Jughead and I were just saying we might go down to Sweetwater River tomorrow morning if you wanted to go with."

"We were?" Jughead turned to him confused but all he got was a quick, light elbow to the stomach. "Oof."

"Sure I'd love to. I gotta break this in sometime. Are you guys sleeping in the treehouse tonight?" She made a grimace. She has never been allowed in, usually because Archie insisted they needed a man cave. The boys usually slept there almost every night of Summer.

"Yeah but you can join if you really want to, Betty." Archie suggested. Jughead looked at him, perplexed. His friend didn't even ask his permission to invite her into their sanctuary, which happened to be in Jughead's backyard. "Trust me." He whispered in Jug's direction, after reading his expression.

"My mother would never allow it." Betty replied sadly.

"Say you're staying at Ethel's." Jughead advised, suddenly recovering his ability to speak. The girls weren't close but usually ended up partners in class since the two boys usually picked each other.

"Betty, Polly it's time for dinner!" Alice chimes up the stairs. Betty looked behind her shoulder at her open door.

"I gotta go boys, but I bet that would work thank you Juggy! I'll meet you two there after dinner!" She chirped happily.

Archie shut his window and turned to Jughead. "So...Jug. What about _Betty_?" He persisted, attempting to return to their previous conversation.

"What about her?" He tried to keep his voice even and wished he could sink into his comic book. "I mean-" The boy nervously tugged at an inky curl that had escaped from his crown and hung loosely in his face. He wasn't sure how to respond. He'd always liked Betty but he had never really thought about if he _liked_ her. He supposed she was aesthetically pleasing to him and she had always showed him nothing but kindness. "Well it's not like she would want to kiss me anyways." He had never thought about her like this, wondering what her lips felt like. It was absurd to him.

"You never know." His friend shrugged. Jughead didn't respond hoping he'd drop it. "We better get over there before she's done. I've gotta hide my magazines." The boys biked to the treehouse, not bothering to go into the Jones' trailer. Half the time, Jughead slept up there anyways.

Jug couldn't help but snicker as he helped pick up Archie's assorted collection of Sports Illustrated Swim Issues, Victoria's Secret catalogues, and Playboys he'd snuck from Mr. & Mrs. Andrews. The pair began tucking them into a worn rectangular chest that doubled as a table in the middle of room. There were also stacks of Jughead's comic book collection, a magnifying glass, a football, a deck of cards, a pack of cigarettes Jughead stole from his dad, and of course, snacks. Archie accidentally dropped one of his magazines that fell open to a picture of a girl with a blonde ponytail and green eyes. Jughead couldn't help it when he started to blush again thinking about what he had seen earlier and he side eyed Archie. "So, do you remember earlier before Betty saw us?" He asked awkwardly.

"Sure do." Archie blushed with a culpable look on his face.

"Does that sort of thing happen often?" He wasn't sure what answer he was hoping for.

"Well uh," Archie sheepishly rubbed the back of his head and couldn't hide the slight smile on his face.

"It's cool. I don't know why I asked. I don't really want to know the answer to that." He couldn't hide the annoyance in his voice.

"Well it's not like I watch her _all_ the time. Or if she's changing or something I try to look away."

Jughead signed. "Keyword- _try_." He rolled his eyes.

"Promise me you won't tell her, Jug. I can't get in trouble with Betty yet." The ginger pleaded.

"What do you mean 'yet'?" He snarked back.

"Well I might try to get her to kiss me. You see if a girl like Cheryl ever _does_ like me, I want to be prepared. You know, make sure I have practice."

"Archie, that doesn't make any sense. Wouldn't you want practice before kissing Betty?"

"Not really." He shrugged lamely. "Betty's my friend. I don't think she's kissed anyone either and probably wouldn't have anything to compare it to."

"Hmmf." Jughead didn't really know what to say to that, but he didn't think Betty was just someone to be practiced on. She was more than that and deserved better. He wondered how the day had begun so normal and now they were both contemplating kissing their best friend. He hoped Archie's impulsive tendencies wouldn't end up ruining the perfect dynamic of their friendship.

There was a knock at the door behind Archie. "What's the password?" He called.

"Archie, you know it's me, Betty and I wasn't given a password." She said impatiently. "You kept your 'No Girls Aloud' sign up I see. Do you expect me to sleep outside?"

"I'd make Archie sleep outside before I'd make you, Betty." Archie punched Jughead's arm responding to the latter boy's comment.

"Okay well can you please let me in? It's getting cold out here and I didn't bring a coat." Jughead jumped up ready to head towards the door. He almost never refused even the littlest of whims from Betty, a stark difference from how he treated other girls. Before he could get to the door, Archie grabbed his pant leg, holding him back.

"What's the passwordddd?" He bellowed in a sing-songy voice.

"I just told you;" She groaned. "I was not given a password. Don't make me wring your neck, Andrews."

"Think of the last movie we all watched." Jughead suggested.

"Goonies never say die!" She yelled a little loudly. "That's a little wordy for a password you know." She said as Jughead unlocked and opened the door. "Hello Mouth." She nodded to him. "Hello Mikey." She called over his shoulder.

"Archie picked it." He shrugged. "And as much as I love Goonies, if I had to choose a Corey Feldman character most like me, I'd lean more towards Teddy Duchamp from Stand By Me. Much more my style."

"I should have known." She chuckled, rolling her eyes. She turned to the red head. "Just so you know, allowed is spelled a-l-l-o-w-e-d. At least, in the context you were trying to use it in."

"How do you know it was me who wrote it and not Jughead?" He grumbled. She crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow at him. "Okay, yeah I guess you're right. I'm sorry I'm not the genius like you two are."

"All will be forgiven if you show me your food stash. I know Jug has to have something squirreled away up here." She prompted, rubbing her stomach.

The two boys exchanged a nervous look. "Didn't you just eat?"

"More like slowly hid brussels sprouts in my pockets until enough of them were gone so I could be excused." She stuck out her tongue in disgust. "I threw them in your backyard before I left. Vegas was a very happy boy to receive such a gift. He was still wagging his tail at me when I rode away on my bike." She giggled. "Now come on, show me the goods. Are they in here?" She asked and began opening the chest.

"Wait, no-"

"Don't-"

"What, you two aren't willing to share? As your guy's oldest friend I take offense to-" She made a choking noise once she had seen what was inside. hey boys looked at their feet guiltily. "Why do you-, where did-" She sputtered and turned red.

"They're Archie's!" Jughead threw his hands up.

"You _pervs_!" She said, mostly teasing.

"I just said that-" The Jones boy began.

"Doesn't mean you didn't _look_ at them." It was Jughead's turn to blush.

"I-I mean-"

"Can I-?"

"What?!" Both boys shouted in unison and looked up at their innocent friend.

"Is it so wrong for _me_ to be the least bit curious?" She asked, biting her lip bashfully.

"It's not I guess." Archie said, rubbing the back of his head nervously. The trio sat with their backs against the wall, Betty in the middle. She flipped through a couple magazines while the boys stole peeks at her over their comic books.

"I-is this what you guys are interested in? Is this what girls are _suppose_ to look like?" She questioned, suddenly feeling a bit insecure in her prepubescent body.

"Not many girls actually look like that." Archie said nonchalantly. "As for me, I like _all_ types of girls." He wiggled his eyebrows. "Jughead doesn't like _any_ girls."

"I never said that."

"It's true," Archie continued, nonetheless. "I was just asking him earlier today if he'd ever kiss anyone and he wouldn't answer me."

"Maybe he just doesn't want to tell you _who_ he'd want to kiss." Betty didn't know how true her words were.

"Guys, I'm right here." He rolled his eyes coolly, hoping to hide his true feelings.

"Have you guys ever seen a _real_ girl naked?" She asked, somehow changing to an even more awkward conversation.

"Jughead hasn't." Archie said under his breath.

Jughead glared at him, hoping Betty didn't hear. "No _we_ haven't." He said saving his friend from his own stupidity.

"Have you ever _kissed_ anyone?" Archie asked the blonde.

"Well, _no_." Her skin flushed.

"It's okay Betts, I haven't either." He put his hand on his chin as if he were pondering something. "Do you _want_ to?"

"Of course I'd like to kiss someone at some point. What kind of question is that?" She side-eyed him.

"Well I was just thinking maybe if you wanted to get it out of the way. You know, so that when you actually like someone you'd know what you were doing." He finished lamely.

"Archie Andrews! Are you asking me to kiss... _you_?" She peeked up at him through her long blonde lashes.

" _No_. Yes? I don't know. It was only if you wanted to. I'm sorry it was a stupid idea." The boys red face just about matched his flaming hair. Now, it was Archie who desired the ability to escape into his comic book.

"Well." The girl paused. "I suppose it's not the _worst_ idea you've had. Okay." She nodded and moved to sit in front of him.

"Oh, I-" He was at loss for words and stared at Betty as she leaned in slowly, closing her eyes and he closed his when she was about an inch from his face. She then gave him a swift, chaste peck on the lips and pulled away scrambled to sit back in her spot. Both pre-teens we're red in the face now.

"Ugh! Get a room would you? You've just defiled my treehouse. My innocence is gone." He harshly teased his friends.

"Oh you're just jealous Jones. We can't all get pretty girls like Betty." He grinned longingly at the girl next to him.

"Hey maybe I just want to wait for someone I actually _want_ to kiss." Jughead interjected angrily.

"Boys, boys. Knock it off. Here, I'll make it even." She moved in front of the boy with the crown beanie, sitting up on her knees.

"Betts, you don't have to-" Jughead started.

"Nonsense, Forsythe. It's no big deal." She waved her hand and started to lean in, similarly to the way she had with Archie, closing her eyes.

"I told you not to call me that." He grimaced and slipped away standing up before she could learn all the way into him. She ended up kissing his stomach in the process. "Really, you don't have to." He said putting his hands up when she stood up with him and started leaning again. He walked hurriedly to the other side of the room. Betty followed and she giggled while she chased him around the room until he tripped over Archie's outstretched leg that wasn't there his last time around. He stumbled and balanced himself in the corner. He felt a tap on his shoulder and knew it was his petite friend. "Betty, c'mon. This is _absurd_." He said as he turned around.

Before he could say anything else he was pushed against the wall and he felt her hands tangling the hair on the back of his head, knocking his crown off. Not even a second later her lips were on his. He saw stars behind his eyes, he thought his heart would beat out of his chest. His hands flew to her back and pulled her closer instinctively.

" _Ahem_." They heard a throat cleared behind them. They sprung apart blushing profusely. "Now who needs a room." Archie mumbled.

"Huh. I've never seen you without your crown." She mused as they say back down and he fixed it back atop his head. She tried not to think about how soft his hair had felt.

"He wouldn't even take it off for baseball this summer." Archie chuckled, happy to put all this kissing nonsense behind them. Nevermind the fact that it was his idea in the first place. "That is until Principal Weatherbee talked him into wearing the uniform cap."

"He let me wear my crown eventually." Jughead smirked.

"Only after you played _so_ bad that he had to let you. We would have lost the rest of the season." The smirk slipped off Jughead's face.

"Do you have anything to drink?" Betty asks.

"Not up here but if you go down to the trailer I'm sure FP would give you something. He's always like you." Archie suggested. "Get us some too."

"Okay!" She exclaimed happily. Not that it was much of a surprised, almost everyone liked Betty to some degree. It was just something about her sweet persona.

After Betty was safely out of earshot. Archie turned to his best friend. "You're _welcome_ , by the way."

"For what? I just got mauled." Jughead replied jadedly.

"You didn't like that?" Archie raised an eyebrow at him. "You got a _much_ better kiss than I did. I'd almost think she likes you." He tried to hide the jealousy in his voice.

"I didn't ask for it." He shrugged back.

"You are truly unbelievable Jughead."

Jughead stayed quiet.

They heard a car door slam. "ELIZABETH COOPER, YOU GET YOUR ASS DOWN HERE OR SO HELP ME GOD."

"Mrs.C's here." Archie chortled.

Following that night in the treehouse, things returned to normal for the most part. After a time, Jughead even stopped being afraid to be alone with Betty. Fears of being attacked by her again subsided only slightly to his dismay. He could barely admit it to himself, but after that August before 8th grade, he never looked at Betty the same again. She'd often catch him looking at her lips. Even though it couldn't transport him anywhere other than the trailer park, the treehouse always seemed like a magical place after.

 **A/N: Hey guys, thank you for reading! This was just a oneshot even though I have a couple more possible ideas of them as kids. But let me know if I should write more Bughead stories. I haven't written in a long time and am just getting the hang of it again.**


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